Pumpkin spice hits Prestige like a warning flare—sweet, fake, and wrong. In Conference B, Coach Thompson tries to pin everything on Wolf… but Superintendent James Devereaux and Mrs. Brinkley are focused on a bigger threat: the smell means the watchers are seated, and when that happens… The Nine start moving.

[I“THE NINE” STING — 9 NOTES / MUSIC SCARE] A hijacked tone. A signature melody. A message that lands like a receipt: Prestige isn’t reacting anymore—it’s being run.

Out in the office lobby, Nia Calloway does what she always does when the school starts acting hungry: she listens. Ms. Harris tries to keep her “out of trouble” (the nice way), donors hover nearby, and Nia ends up doing the one thing Prestige can’t fully control—she reminds everyone what real talent sounds like.

[NIA A CAPPELLA HERE — ] The donors cry. Harris tears up and hates that she did. Even Devereaux and “Principal Gray” pause like the building itself got interrupted.

Then the paperwork hits: Nia gets a sponsor offer—GlassTone Piano Trust ($18M)—but it comes with a leash: 30 days to join a sanctioned group. Nia refuses the Red Choir… and smiles anyway, because she already knows who this will hurt.

On her way out, Nia tries to find Wolf—because she already saved him once from being stamped MISSING—and now she sees a new name on the board: Tessa Briggs — MISSING. Red Choir. Wolf’s class. Bad timing. Worse meaning. She trades words with Mr. Clay, who confirms what her stomach already knew: that disappearance wasn’t innocent.

Nia finally spots Wolf—too late—getting into a car and leaving. It stings… until Ms. Boudreaux catches her at the exit and slips her an envelope: Wolf is going to the mall to register a society (Clause B.7) so he can compete without getting claimed.

Nia’s decision locks in on the spot: If Wolf gets registered, he gets protected. If she uses her sponsor leverage, she can punish the Red Choir and throw sand in Prestige’s machine.

Weekend plans changed.